Friday, June 15, 2018

Ten books about contemporary queer life in America

Michelle Tea's new book is Against Memoir: Complaints, Confessions & Criticisms. One of ten books about contemporary queer life in America she tagged at Publishers Weekly:

Harmless Medicine by Justin Chin
We lost the prolific, punk poet Justin Chin in 2015, to complications of HIV+ status. Justin wrote copiously about living with AIDs, as well as family, love and heartbreak, poverty, illegal drugs and transgressive sex, immigration and ethnicity. If this sounds dour, prepare to have your mind blown by the humor packed into every piece, shoulder to shoulder with real angst and political outrage. Justin Chin was a Queen, and his shrewd humor is a defining characteristic of his singular voice. Any of his works is a great place to start but I’m selecting Harmless Medicine for its nine-part "Imagining America," which calls out to Ginsberg’s "America"–I create my culture everyday. / I write a bible of diaspora. / I piss in the embrace of men. / I bruise the broken speech.